[Int] GSL July Code S Ro8 D1

NesTea
‘The only person that can put Bomber in his place is me.’

- How does it feel to make the semifinals?
I am glad that my opponent played right into my predictions so that I could easily win. It played out perfectly. I thought that I could win with either a 3:0 or a 3:1 score. And I didn’t even practice for the 5th set map. I think my opponent got too wrapped up in mindgames.

- How did you start your mind games in the 1st set?
I wanted to show him that I only had 1 hatchery. Before the match, I deliberated whether or not I should use this tactic in the 1st set. But I knew if it worked, I could take a 3:0 victory. I had a scenario planned out beginning with set 1.

- Did you predict that your opponent would be aggressive in the 2nd set?
I knew that I could get into my opponent’s head because once again I didn’t take a front expansion.

- In the 3rd set, you did go for that expansion.
I knew that my opponent would start acknowledging the fact that I have relied mainly on roaches. I got my roach warren right after my spawning pool finished, and if he saw that, I knew he wouldn’t start building banelings, so then I switched over to pure zerglings to end the game. He did exactly as I thought he would.

- Your win rate in ZvZ is tremendous. You must be regretting your loss to Dimaga before.
Back then, I had never lost the matchup before so I didn’t think I needed to practice. But because of that loss, I have learned even more about the matchup and began to work harder at it.

- You will be facing a protoss next.
I want to face MC. Not in the round of 32, but in a much more grander stage like the semis or the finals. I think MC wants to face me as well. But I will say this, I have already figured MC out and am very confident in my chances.

- If you face MC, what do you think will be the score?
Depends on the maps, but I think I could win with a 3:1 score.

- You must be greedy for another championship.
During the open season I lost to MVP in the round of 4 (**T/N: Ok. Either he mistakenly refers to January season as open season here, or he is naming the wrong person.). Back then I was too overconfident. Now I am no longer overconfident and take each game seriously. If HongUn advances, it will just make things even easier for me.

- Your recent games show a very refined feel.
I have been practicing a lot. Of course, I lose a lot during practice. Back in the day, I used to have a 90% win rate, but now it has dropped to around 70% so I felt a bit uncomfortable. As for today, I feel like I did a good job planning out the sets and I knew my opponent would panic if I used these unusual strategies. It all worked out well for me in the end.

- Do you have the desire to put your ZvZ win rate (individual sets) up to 90%?
I want to. There are no balance problems in a mirror match. And I believe great players are ones who are very skilled in their own respective mirror matchups. Because the rock paper scissors battles can be very difficult mentally.

- If you advance to the finals?
I feel like LosirA or Bomber will be the one to advance. Since ZvZ will be more or less boring, I hope that Bomber can advance so that the game will be more entertaining.

- Then you will be facing off against the previous code A champion.
I feel like the only person left that can put Bomber in his place is me.

- Are you also looking to secure your position in the money rankings? (GSL)
I don’t want to lose to MC. I will not let up my 1st place any time soon.

- Your ambition going into the round of 4?
MC has a good chance of advancing, and so I will practice hard so I don’t fall prey to his ceremonies. But HongUn seemed to play a solid game against Zenio, so even if I have to face him, I feel like it can be a fun match.

- Any last comments?
CoCa got caught by the Cocosho curse. I want to thank her for that. I want to ask a favor of her for the round of 4 as well. I also want to thank Horror for helping me a lot. I feel like I was able to play well because of him. Thank you. IM Fighting!.
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HongUn
‘I know how to 4 gate too.’

- Your thoughts on making the round of 4?
This is the first time since the open seasons that I have been to the round of 4. I feel a bit overwhelmed. I am still kind of in shock.

- You got your win through 4 gate.
For a long time, I never used 4 gate as a strategy, but I let it loose today. When I used it, I thought it was good.

- You played out the games in a very aggressive style.
Like I played against Zenio, I played with the mindset where I would play the way I wanted to no matter what. And in a PvP, even if you want to do something else, if your opponent does 4 gate then the game may just end right there. So in reverse, I just used it. To be honest, I didn’t really want to use it because it makes for uninteresting games. But I haven’t ever got to a PvP late game on the ladder, so… I do feel like the matchup is boring.

- Before today’s win, your previous PvP record has been 6 consecutive losses.
I didn’t really have that in my mind today, because I lost those without ever using 4 gate. And looking back, I think I lost over 60% of those matches because of 4 gate.

- How is your wrist situation?
I plan to go to the hospital regularly. Since I can’t practice much I have less confidence in myself, but I think the heavens are helping me.

- It feels like you exude a whole different feeling ever since the round of 16, almost as if you are refining your skills even more.
Every time I advance further, I feel like I want to keep my promise to do well for my friends even more. Even my dad came out to buy me some food and told me to advance to the round of 4. And all of that really played into today’s match.

- Is it because of that ambition that you decided to use the 4 gate?
Rather than ambition, I would say it was because I couldn’t really figure out another way to play PvP. Last time I lost to MC because I didn’t use the 4 gate and after that match, people asked me why I didn’t use the 4 gate at all. And today as a testament to “I can 4 gate as well,” I used it.

- Your next opponent is Nestea. Nestea said he wanted to face MC.
He can play against MC in his own time. And to be honest, I have no desire to face him. We have no previous relationships nor do I have anything to say to him.

- Are you pressured at all?
Ever since the round of 32, every match has given me a lot of pressure. Everyone has been a great opponent, so if you put it that way, I think MC has given me most anxiety.

- You showed great form against Zerg previously.
I believe Nestea is also very confident against Protoss. But I feel like my confidence is back to a similar point as before the balance patch.

- Your chances at winning the round of 4 match?
In my mind, 100%. But I have never faced Nestea before so I don’t really know. I have only really seen the VODs, so I will need to really weather the storm to find out.

- Nestea has been on a roll lately.
I really don’t know how zergs plan out their sets. As a defensive race, I have no idea how they decide to proceed. Is it 6 pool, then 8, then 10?....

- Any last comments?
I really want to thank my parents. I also want to thank the audience for their applause after this match. I got applause last time after I beat Fruitdealer but this was the first time since then. I will keep on playing hard so I hope that you can keep on cheering for me.

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